


Hostage Negotiation

by yuletide_archivist



Category: Robot Series - Isaac Asimov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-02
Updated: 2006-12-02
Packaged: 2018-01-25 04:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1632563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dr. Calvin prefers robots to people, and this is one of the many reasons why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hostage Negotiation

**Author's Note:**

> Many, many thanks to  <lj user="ringspells"> and Guido for their way-above-average beta skills.
> 
> Written for tallulah71

 

 

"I'm Doctor Susan Calvin."

The Police Force Captain took a look at the expert from U.S. Robots. She was thin and a bit mousy, but held his eyes with unflinching directness.

"Are you the hostage negotiator?"

"No." The woman looked at the building -by itself half of U.S. Robots' struggling plant- now surrounded by cops. One of the searchlights reflected against the windows and then against her glasses, giving her the aspect of a computer considering a problem. When the light moved and the cop could see her eyes again the impression didn't change much. "But as your people seems to have been educated on robots by movies, Dr. Lanning thought it best for me to assist you while they talk to the press."

"This is a bad situation for the company, alright."

"It would be, if this situation were what everybody seems to think it is."

"Doctor Calvin," said the cop. "I know you are an expert on robots, but this is clearly a police situatino. We have a suspect who broke into your building -one of those anti-robot activists, I'm told- and we have a crazy robot holding a gun against his head. You can see the feed from the plant security cameras right here."

"An obvious first question might be why he needs a gun at all. He's a DR prototype designed to test technology for our future project in Mercury. He's not fully up to specs, of course, but he could still break your guns in half with his hands and dodge your bullets or just let them bounce against his skin. Why use a gun? It's not logical, and, unlike humans, I have yet to see a robot do an illogical thing."

The cop shrugged. "All hostage takers need guns."

"Yes, I think everybody knows that, don't we?" Dr. Calvin nodded. "And there's the fact that this is not possible. Robots cannot harm human beings. It's literally the mathematical foundation of their programming."

"Maybe his brain broke, or your engineers made a mistake programming him."

Dr. Calvin shook her head, still looking at the building. "Not this kind of mistake. It's the First Law of Robotics: _A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm._ It's the basis of all aspects of the design of a robot's positronic pathways."

"I make a living dealing with people who break laws, Doctor."

"Robots never do. But I guess I'll have to go inside and sort this out before it gets worse."

The cop grimaced. "I normally wouldn't allow it, but this being your plant and this being your robot... Will you need any equipment? I can get you a bulletproof vest."

"That won't be necessary, but I do have one request, Captain."

* * *

The man and the DR series robot -informally called 'Draftie' by the engineers at U.S. Robots- were standing with their backs against a wall, facing the plant room's only entrance. Dr. Calvin entered the room without knocking and closed the door behind her. She seemed to pay no attention to the gun in the robot's hand.

"Draftie, do you recognize me?"

"Yes."

"Go away," said the man in hysterical horror. "This monster will kill me!"

"I wasn't talking to you," she said coldly. Her voice warmed slightly when she addressed the robot again. "What are you doing?"

"I'm pointing a gun at this man's head."

"Very well. Why are you doing that?"

Draftie seemed to waver a bit. "Because he represents mankind's fight for freedom against the encroaching of robots."

Dr. Calvin nodded, apparently satisfied. "And if your demands aren't met, then you will kill him, right?"

"If my demands aren't met, I will... I will kill him."

"Monsters!," screamed again the man, looking at the security cameras in the ceiling. "You are monsters, and you created another monster!"

"You," said Dr. Calvin with the utmost contempt audible in her voice, "are a despicable idiot, and I simply cannot allow you to harm an innocent being any longer."

Then she took a small gun from a pocket and fired at the man.

* * *

"He was never at any risk," said Dr. Calvin at the still glaring Captain. "As I told you before, Draftie's alloy is too strong to be penetrated by bullets."

"I was talking about the man!"

"Ah, well. He wasn't in any danger, either. Draftie was close enough to shield him from a bullet, as he did."

"How did you know he would protect him?"

"I knew that before I entered the building, and, had you asked me or had you been capable of believing me, I could have told you that without coming here at all. Robots cannot harm human beings, or let human beings be harmed by their lack of action. I wish we were half as decent with them."

The cop grumbled. "At least that seemed to restore it back to sanity. Somehow like kicking a clock to make it work again, I guess"

Dr. Calvin seemed appalled at the idea. "Draftie was functioning perfectly at all moments. The man had given him commands to pretend he was taking him as a hostage in some sort of deranged PR stunt. You probably noticed Draftie's obviously distorted speech patterns."

"I thought it was the stress."

"You are right in a sense, Captain. But it was the stress of having to obey orders that involved simulating the violation of the First Law. By itself, that's enough to strain the workings of a robotic mind. I assume the man could have given him an empty gun, but then the charade would have been evident once he were rescued."

"The man has to have guts, instructing a robot to threaten him like that. It didn't work, but it was quite a gamble he made."

"Loaded gun or not, he was safer than in his own home. Draftie couldn't have killed him, no matter what his instructions, any more than a prime number could have two even factors... it's a mathematical impossibility."

"Still. You put quite a lot of faith in your maths. Without the robot placing itself like that in front of the bullet, that idiot in there could have been killed, and now you'd be in a bad jam."

"There was no risk at all. And besides, I had an innocent to rescue."

"By shooting at him?"

"You still don't understand, do you?" Dr. Calvin's voice quietly angry for the first time in the long, tiring night. "Draftie was the hostage."

.finis.

 

 

 


End file.
